Venetian blind



June 3o, 1953 J. w. DUNN 'f 2,643,712

VENETIAN BLIND Filed June 24, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 ST t/ I 29 v 'A J\// 4.2 E INVENTOR.

J. W. DUNN VENETIAN BLIND June 3o, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 24, 1946 1N VEN TOR.

J. W. DUNN VENETIAN BLIND June 30, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 24, 1946 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY June 30, 1953 Filed June 24, 1946 J. w. DUNN 2,643,712

VENETIAN BLIND 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 J. W. DUNN VENETIAN BLIND June 30, 1953 Filed June 24, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 TREE. TEEE. j

INVENTOR v W# ATTORNEYS Patented June 30, 1953 VENETIAN BL'IND John W'. Dunn,v Alhambra, Calif., assigner to vC al.-

AllqyCastin'gs, Inc., Giendala; Calif.a corporation AppIcatiOnJune 24, 1946, Serial No. 678,828

Mypresent invention comprises a novel construction of Venetian blind,-and involves in one phase a new combination of bodily shiftable blind unit, and hold down bracket means cooperative therewith.

My" newly invented hold down means is designed especially to-work in conjunction with the new Atype of blind which is disclosed in my'United States Patent No. 2,413,754, issuedI January 7, 1947,5andfmy copending application for patent, ySerial No. 641,528, rfiled January 16,l 1946, now Patent-No. 2,493,234, issued January 3, 1950, because it is particularly adapted to function with a blind bottom rail'that is shifted inwardly and outwardly relative to the Window,incident to the tilting. adjustment of the slats of the blind to opposite inclinations, or to horizontal positions.

My hold down means as above referred to, howevery is useful in connection lwith 'Venetian blinds ofthe common typesnow in use, in which the blind does not shift bodily, because many of thezadvantages of the hold down means may be availed oil for ordinary blinds in which axis of the upper tilt bar of the blind is Xed, or does not .shift inwardly oroutwardly-.f

Therefore, rny-,invention alsdinvolves a novell construction of hold downbracket means per se, or aunit oflitseliwhichinay be vended for use separately from' therblindzif' desired, or with.r

conventional formsof such blinds.

A .special feature of ^my inventionlresides ini. the `constructioncf theparts of my hold down:

means'` suchthat they. willact. with automatic lockingl eiectsinitiated by .closing movements of,

thexblind slats, and `assume :positions .enabling release of the lowerend (hold downrail)` of the blind-when the latter assumesa horizontaicr nearly horizontal position.

Still another object-of my: invention has, been.`l to produce hold down means in theform ofsimg ple members, readily adapted to be diecast, or

otherwise-easily produced, and constituting separate hardware parts leasily to be attached 'to va blind hold down rail, and to the lower portion of thefwindows, door, or other likeffmernber upon;

which the blind is mounted.

With ythe foregoing in View, a full;understand-' Figure l isa Vertical sectional .View of a window frame having my blind unitasshown in opera-v tive Aposition thereon with the slats open. I

Figure 2 is lan .enlargedsectional view `of the upper portion of the Window frame showing the 3 Claims. (Cl. 160-167l 2 upper end of the blind .unitwith the` hardware parts for supporting the same, the slats o f `the unitbeing shown open.

Figure 3 is a viewsimilar to Figure-2, but illustratingfthe tilt barsotilted as to effect a closing action-of the slats ofthe blind, the tilt bar beingV shown in its' outermost position vof extreme,n ioye--r ment toward the windowV frame, eliminating any vision openings at the vertical edgesof the blind and between it and the sides of the frame.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary Viewin frontVv elevation showing the. blind tilterunit as carried by the head rail usually secured to the top of the windowfframe, and a portion of the tilt bar which is supported by the tiling unit.

Figure 5 is a view in vertical section showing primarily the parts ,that are illustratedl in-Figure i but additionally showing more clearly the bracket means and the traveling pinion or gear members that support the,l .tilt bar or pulley than in Figure 4.

' Figure r6 is a View similar to Figurer 5, but illustrating the tilt bar. supporting gear or pinion members in their outermostA positions of movement as distinguished. from Figure 5 that` shows these parts withl the tilt 'bar in the innermost position kassumed thereby inthe use of my in- Vention.r

Figure 7 is a. vertical sectional view taken about on the line 1 1 of Figure5. t

1 Figure 8 is a vertical sectional Iview taken about on the line 8 8 of Figure 7.

Figure .-9 is a view of the .bracket means and the follower pinion or gear member, showing more clearly'ithe `guide member provided on Vthegear or .pinion member to coact with the stationary pin orprojectionlon the sidefof the bracket.

Figure .10 is a .vertical sectional View, fragmentary in nature, taken about'on the line lil-,I 0 of Figure 9.

VVFigure 1l is a sectional View takenon the` line I l-i i of Figure l'andbringing out more-clearly the means for detachably supporting one end ofY the tilt bar adjacentto the follower pinionuor gear unit ormember, therectangular pintle vmember of the tilt bar` being shown as when it mayV be readily raised `anddisplaced from the socket on the follower pinion member.

Figure 12 is a view similar to Figure` 11 butv showing the rotativekeeperof Figure 11 turned intoits locking position.

Figure 13 is la sectional'view showing the cord guide member on the head'rail, theY View taken abouton the line l3|3 of liigureld.

Figure 14 isa ysectional View takenabout on the line Il-I'i'of Figure 13.'

Figure is a sectional view taken about on the line I5-l5 of Figure 16, showing the mounting of one of the pulleys in the head rail, which pulley guides one of the blind raising cord members.

Figure 16 is a fragmentary partial front elevation of the upper portion of a window equipped with the blind unit and operating and supporting parts of my invention.

Figure 17 is a top plan view of the tilt bar showing the manner of attachment of the slat tapes thereto, and the formation of the pintle members at opposite ends of said bar.

Figure 18 is a front elevation of the parts shown in Figure 17, and additionally showing a couple of the slats that are carried by the tapes attached to the tilt bar.

Figure 19 is an enlarged vertical sectional view as compared with Figure 1, of the blind hold down members and associated bottom portion of the blind, same broken away.

Figure 20 is a front view, broken away, looking toward the blind from its inner side, showing more of the parts of Figure 19. f

Figures 2l, 22 and 23 are sections on the line 2I-2I of Figure 20, showing different positions of the hold down rail and attached parts, also the stationary hold down bracket on one side of the window frame.

Figure 24 is a fragmentary sectional View on the line 24-24 of Figure 20.

Figure 25 is a side elevation of one of the hold down brackets.

Figure 26 is a sectional view taken on the line 26-26 of Figure 25.

Hereinafter, my invention will be described m connection with the construction of blind of my above identified application, and the universality of the usefulness of the hold down means will'be evident from such disclosure.

Proceeding to describe the detail features of my invention, and method of applying the same to a Venetian blind of generally conventional form, reference is first Ymade to Figures l to 3 inclusive, and Figure 16. As seen in Figure 16, at the left side of the frame of the window, looking at the said frame from the inside of the house or dwelling or other building on which the window is carried, is located the tilting unit. This unit may be located on the left or right side of the window frame since this makes no difierence.

As seen in Figures 7 and Si, and Figure 16 particularly, the tilting device comprises the usual worm shaft I carrying at its inner end the customary cord pulley 2 fixed to said shaft. The

tilting cord 3 passes around the grooved portion of the pulley 2 and the operating ends of the cord 3 are pendent from the tilting unit in the customary way. The worm shaft I, see Figures 7 and 8, is mounted in a bracket 4 and the worm 5 fixed on the shaft I is adapted tovturn in the hollow portion of said bracket designated 6. Mounted in a suitable bearing portion 'I of the bracket 4 is the worm engaged pinion 8 which is provided with an offstanding trunnion portion designated 9 at the outer end of which is carried a travel gear or pinion member I0 fixed to turn with the gear 8.

The lbracket 4 may be made in complemental sections for the purpose of facilitating die casting of the same, though the bracket may be formed, if desired, of stamped out parts held together in the same manner as the sections of the die cast parts, namely, by means'of pins II, see

Figure 3. The larger diameter portion of the gear 8, previously called the worm pinion, is embraced between the sections of the bracket 4 so as to maintain the pinion 8 in proper location of operating position on the bracket, in a manner in which it cannot be displaced. The bearing portions I of the bracket 4, provided for the gear 8, are in the form of slotted portions at the lower ends of the two sections of the brackets, see Figures 7 and 8 as well as Figure 6. It is therefore possible, upon the turning of the worm 5 by the pulley 2 and shaft I, for the gear 8 or worm pinion to travel along the Worm 5 and longitudinally inwardly or outwardly of the slot bearings 'I above referred to. The travel pinion or gear member I0 is disposed exteriorly of the bracket means 4 at one side of the latter.

One of the complemental parts of the bracket 4, or sections, as previously referred to, the right one as seen in Figure 7, is formed at its lower edge portion with an extension I2, which extension is provided with a flange I3 having a rack composed of a series of teeth designated I4 formed at its outer edge.

The travel gear or pinion IU is really a gear sector' formed with a series of teeth lila which are adapted to mesh or engage with the teeth I4 on the extension I 2 at the lower portion of the bracket 4.

From the foregoing construction it will be clear that as the worm pinion 8 is rotated by the worm 5, the travel pinion l0 would similarly be rotated because xed to the member 8, and the turning of the pinion member I0 will cause it to travel along the rack provided by the teeth I4, as quite clearly depicted in the view Figures 5 and 6.

The worm tilting unit just described constitutes the support for one end of the tilt bar I5, which, as seen in Figures 17 and 18, is equipped at the said one end, the left end as viewed, with a square or poly-sided pintle member I6. The pintle member I6 is adapted to be interengaged with a square opening in the trunnion portion 9 of the worm pinion 8, which opening is designated I'I.

For supporting the other end of the tilt bar I5, the latter is equipped with a poly-sided pintle member I8 adapted to be mounted in a supporting bracket means such as shown in Figures 9 and 10 particularly, the same comprising a simple form of bracket I9 for carrying the travel .pinion member 2B which is of a general construction somewhat similar to the travel pinion member I0 previously described, except that the follower travel pinion 2n is not provided with the connected gear 8 as is the pinion member I0, such gear not being necessary for my purposes. The pinion member 20, which will be called the follower pinion member because it follows the movement of the main and first described pinion III, is provided with teeth of a sector of teeth, designated 2I, and these teeth mesh with teeth 22 providing a rack at the lower edge of the bracket I9 below the bearing portion of the pinion member 20. The pinion member 20 has a trunnion or hub portion 23 or trunnion portion 23 is a tilt bar supporting member in the form of a circular projection 25 which is provided with an elongated slot 21. The slot 27 is shaped to conform with the shape of the right hand pintle member I8 of the tilt form interrupted at a portion ofits periphery:

asseen at 28a in. Figure l1, so that the interruptedportion may be brought to register withtheouter edge portion of the pintle. member I8, whereupon the pintle member` I8 may be displaced-from the projection 26, enabling removal of4 the` tilt bar I5 and the supported slat and tape; portions of theblind unit bodily from en'- gagement with the members I and 26, or 2.0,.

referring t the follower pinion member. That is .to say, when; it is desired to detach the ,Ver

netian blindY unit comprising the tilt bar', slats, and tape, from the supporting bracket means carriedby the head rail. designated 29, a finger-l piece 3U on the keeper 28 will enable manipulation. of the latter from the position of Figure 12 to Vthat of Figure 11, and the tilt bar I5 may be detached by first raising the pintlev member I8 out of the slot 21, and thereafter pullingthel tilt bar I5 in the direction of the bracket I9 to disengage its square pintle member I6 from the square opening in the pinion, member I0, said opening designated I'I.

Describing another vfeature of the pinion mem ber I0, it is notable as seen in Figures 5 and6, that this member l0 is equipped With an ar.- cuate. or sector shaped guide member 3I formed with anarc-shaped guider groove 32 at one side thereof. Thus, when the pinion member Ill isA rotated by'thev pulley 2 and the tilt cord. means 3, to cause thatV member to travel under the turning action of the gear 8, to the inner end of thel slot bearing l, ifany further rotation of the4 member I0 is required, itV will causeits guidei slot; 32 to engagewith a pin` 3Ia` on. one .of the sections of the bracket 4, the adjacent section, and allow disengagement of the last ktooth IIlb of,.the member I0 from tooth [4a. of the rack.

ange I3 previously described, and on reverse rotation of member Ii) to assure thattooth ID of member Ill vreengages between rack teethf'oi rackangelS, thus remeshing the teeth of mem-v ber- I5 with the said last teeth, in. the same: poe

sitions as they were prior to disengagement.

The bearing 35S-inthe bracket. .I9 supplies for the hub or trunnion portion 23 of the follower pinion member .20 is an .elongated slot bearing like the bearing 'l of the bracket vmeans 4, so-

that when the pinion member I0 is turned by the gear 8 under the action of the pull cord means 3, and travel is imparted through the worm 5 to the gear 8 and the pinion member III,l a. corresponding movement `of the pinion member 2i)v in the bearing slot 33 will be effected,v

and. in this manner the tilt bar I5 may be moved sociated with the pinion member I0 and for the same. purpose.

The. operation of my Venetian blind means, largely comprising theunit made up of the.V tilt barA I 5 vand thetapes I.51.v and'slats- |5D.S practcally the same, generally speaking,` as in. reif spect to the construction in my previously mentioned application, save that thev opera-tion. .is effected by .newly designed: parts advantageously arranged andnimproved upon in accordance with.

the disclosure herein. i l

When the Venetian. blind is. to be closed, it will be tilted by the bar I5 tilting the slats by action of thetapes in the manner shown inFig-, i, ure 3, and as the blind is so closed it Will.- be

caused to move bodily including all of said parts I5,..I 5a, and v|51), outwardly toward the window.-v

Figure; 13 illustrates a cord lock and guide member 36a. mounted on the head rail 29. for. ,guiding one ofthe raising cords of the blind,

and the details of thismeans are illustrated in Figure 14, including the cord `locking member In Figure 15, a sinlge.,

31 and guiding pulley 3-8. guiding pulley for another yof .the raising' cords, designated 39, is used. The parts of. Figure 13,

andFigures 14 `and 15 are largely conventional.l

It is apparent that initial rotation of, the pin-V ion members Amay cause them to travel in .-one direction along the slots of the brackets, and. when they reach their outer limits of sliding movement they will rotate about a fixed. axis,v

guide that ofA the tilt bar, due to actionxof the membersk 3-I and 3 la, and 35 and 35.

Passing now to the hold down means `of my present invention, thismeans primarily shown in Figure l and Figures 19 toA 26 of my drawings;

Asl seen in Figures 1 19 and 20, the bottom rail of the blind is designated 4I and works in conijunction with hold down bracketmeans tto be now set forth in. detail.. f

The hold down rail'. @I is, of course, located at the lower end of the blind slat unit. -It is.

usually in the. form of a cross bar or rail of rec#- tangular cross section though inv my construe-- tion as Yshown the cross seetionof thesaidrail is approximately elliptical.

My hold down means. comprises v`parts atY tached to the end of the rail 4I, and. other parts,

namely, brackets, which are secured in any suit- The said bracket plates are 'shown best' in Eig-.l

ures 19, 20, and 25 and will be seen to comprise the. plate 42 formed withfT-shapedslots. the'ver-v tical portions of which, designated 33, havethe horizontal open portions which are designated'V Mythe latter being provided' inhorizontal in.

wardly projecting extensionsv 450i the plate 112.

The Vertical and horizontal portions of the T- slotyof'course, communicatey with one anotherV as shown clearly in-Figure 25. 'Iwo jof suchA plates i2 with their T-slots opposite to leach' other or ,opening Itowards each other andqtheirj eX'-' tensions projecting inwardly from the window frame are utilized for each blind, and theyare.

attached to the'window frame by suitable screws 36 or thev like.

The bottom rail 4I is equipped at each end.A thereof with a hold down plate il secured to.

the railby screws B8 or the like, and from each plate 4l projecttwo pins, namely a rocker or hold. downpinorgudgeon member 49,and a locking and shift pin 59, the pin 49 being almost twice the length of the pin 50.1 i Y The bottom rail 4| with its pins 49 and Ell-at opposite ends isadapted to be interengaged with the bracket members 42. for relative horizontal movement of the rail 4| when in a horizontal position. with respect to the window frame A and with respect to the brackets 42, in other Words, a rectilinear movement relatively toY said brackets V42. The long rocker and hold down pins 49 are disposed at the central axis longitudinally ofthe -bottom rail 4| -by proper attachment of thek plate 4l to said rail-4 'Now bearing in mind the operation of my Venetian blind as a whole, incidental to the shifting of theblind inwardly relatively to the window on the mounting means therefor incident to downward tilting of the slats of the blind, and outward movement bodily of the blind toward the outer side of the window incident to the upward tilting adjustment of the slats of the blind, the operation of my hold down means will be set forth. s

It being assumed that the blind parts are in the position of Figure 19 and the hold down parts are in the position shown in Figure 2l, it will be evident that tilting `of the blind slats downwardly and inwardly from the window by whichaction, or incident to which action, the entire blind unit is shifted inwardly, it will be seen that'the bottom rail 4|. will rock in the horizontal slot 44 of the bracket plates 42, with the long pins 49 acting as rocker or gudgeon pins. At the same time, the short lock and shift pins 50 will engage and move downwardly in the lower portions of the slots 43 and by such action the bottom rail 4| will be caused to move outwardly or toward the window in correspondence with the shifting of the upper end portion of the blind unit, in the samefdirection by means of the tilting devices which have first been described herein. It will be seen that when the pins 5|! start to move into the portions of the vertical slots 43 below or above the horizontal slot portions 44 of the brackets 42 the action of these pins 59 is to cause the bodily shifting movement of the rail 4| inwardly or outwardly dependent upon the degree of movement of the pins toward and from the horizontal portions 44 of the T-slots of themembers 42.

In other words, noting Figures 22 and 23 particularly, as the bottom rail 4|` is being tilted rightwardly about its axis, the pins 59 act on the left walls of the slot portions 43 to shift the rail to the right and according to Figure 23 the movement of the rail to the right as it is rotated in a clockwise direction is at the limit to which it may shift with the pin 5t working in the lower end portion of each adjacent slot 43 at its particularend of the rail 4|.

It will be seen that if the direction of turning of the rail 4| is counter-clockwise as seen in Figures l, 21, 22 and 23, the locking and shifting Ypin will work in the upper portion of the slot 43 above the horizontal portion 44 and a similar effect as to the bodily shifting of the rail 4| will be produced as previously described. In otherwords, the action of the pins 49 and 50, the pins 49 primarily as rocker pins for the rail 4|, and the pins 5|] as shifting pins having a sort of cam action in the vertical portions 43 of the T-shaped slots is to in combination produce a floating movement of the rail 4| in conjunction with the somewhat similar movement which is produced by the tilter mechanism at 8 1 the top of the blind unit, causing the inward and outward bodily movement of said unit.

It is notable that the primary function of the pins 49 is a hold down function but when these pins and the pins 50 are interengaged with the brackets 42, as by manual adjustment when the.

blind has been dropped to its lower limit of movement, if the blind slats and rail 4| were. maintained in a horizontal position, wind from.

the exterior of the window would have a tendency to disengage the bottom rail 4I from theV brackets 42. Therefore, in the use ofV my invention, after the bottom rail 4| has been properly engaged with the brackets 42 as seen in Figurev 21, for instance, it is contemplated to slightly tilt the slats always, either upwardly or downwardly, whereby the lock and shifter pinsv; will move into the Vertical portions 43 of the slots of brackets 42 and thereby obtain the de-A sired locking effect to prevent disengagement of the bottom rail 4| from the brackets 42 and any movement inwardly from the window, of the lower portion of the blind as might be incident to that derived from' inwardly moving air from the exterior of the dwelling. Y

The T-slots 43, 44 of brackets 42 are so designed as .to permit sufficient end shift tolerance of the bottom rail 4| to allow for variance in window frames or normal measurement allowances. They are also designed for universal application to the window. The parts are interchangeable from one side of the window to the other and can be applied either between window jambe or on the face of the window casings or on the face of easement sash or doors. v

Also it is noted as a specic construction of the =brackets 4| that above and below the point where each of the long hold down pins 49 may move into the plane of the vertical portions 43 of the brackets 42 there are webs 5| to prevent thelong pins from moving up or down in the vertical channels or slat portions 43 in cases where the blind might be stretched down tight or where the blind is slightly too long. If the center hold down pins 49 were allowed to move up or down in the vertical portions 43 of the slots this would lock the bottom rail at a vertical position so the Y web portions 5| are extended only a sulicient distance to permit the vertical travel of the shorter lock Vand shiftv pins thus to permit the vertical Vtravel of the latter the full length of the vertical slot portions 43.

Now while the hold down bracket instrumentalities and pin features which I have described are designed especially to be used in conjunction with the oating orbodily movement type of Venetian blind rst described herein, it is entirely possible to use my new hold down means in conjunction with conventional tilters for the blind unit as made today as such means will function equally well for the latter purpose, the diierence being that with my new tilter mechanism at the top of the blind, the blind will move in toward the window when tilted, and will be held down by the hold down means described, whereas when my hold down means is employed with the conventional types of tilter now on the market only the bottom portion of the blind unit will move toward the window by the action of said novel hold down means. However, when using my new hold down devices as described with conventional blind tilters the result of tending to exclude the view and shut out the light for approximately the bottom half of the blind will be materially increased even though the blindV would not hangin a strictly vertical position when tilted, the latter not however being a serious objection.

The insertion of the hold down and look pins 49 and 59 into the portionsY M of the T--slots i3-fili can only be accomplished, and their removal from the brackets 'i2 effected, when the bottom rail il is within a few degrees of level orV horizontal position.

Having thus described my invention, what claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is: y

l. In combination, a window or the like, a win dow frame, a Venetian blind comprising tiltable slats,`supporting means for mounting the'blind upon` the window frame, and means for tilting the slats `and simultaneously operating the blind to move it bodily relatively toward and away from the Window, the blind comprising also a tiltable bottom rail, tiltable with the slats, and hold down means or the bottom rail comprising a pair of guide brackets, each bracket having a guide slot having a horizontally extending portion and a vertically extending portion, and a pair of hold down pins at each end of the bottom rail and receivable in the guide slot of a respective guide bracket, one pin of each pair being arranged on the tilting axis of botto-m rail and slida-ble in the horizontally extending portion of its respective guide slot, the other pin of each pair being spaced from the first pin so as to be disposed inwardly of the guide slot relatively to the rst pin and slidable in the vertically extending portion of its respective guide slot while the nrst pin is disposed in the horizontally extending por- Y tion of its respective guide slot.

2. In combination, a window or the like, a window frame, a Venetian blind comprising tiltable slats, supporting means for mounting the blind upon the window frame, and means for tilting the sla-ts, the blind comprising also aI tiltable bot- 40 tom rail tiltable` with the slats, and hold down means for the bottom rail comprising a pair of guide brackets, each bracket having aA guide slot having a horizontally extending portion and a vertically extending portion, and a pair of hold down pins at each end of the bottom rail .and receivable in the guide slot of a respective guide bracket, one pin of each pair being arranged 'on the tilting axis of the bottom rail and slidable in the horizontally extending portion of its respective guide slot, the other pin of each pair being spaced from the rst pin so as to be disn posed inwardly of the guide slot relatively to the rst pin and slidable in the vertically extending portion of its respective guide slot whilei the rst pin is disposed in the horizontally extending portion oi its respective guide slot.

3. Hold down means for Venetian blinds, comprising a. pair of guide brackekts attachable to a window frame, each bracket having a guide slot having a horizontally extending portion and a vertically extending portion, and a pair of end members attachable at each end of the bottom rail of a Venetian blind, each end member having' a pair of hold-down pins receivable in the guide slot of the respective guidebracket, one

pin of each pair being adapt-ed to be arranged on the tilting axis of the bottom rail and slidable in the horizontally extending portion of its respective guide slot, the other pin of each pair being spaced from the first mentioned pin so as to be disposed inwardly of the guide slot relatively to the irst pin and slidable in the vertically extending portion of its respective guide slot While the first pin is disposed in the horizontally extending portion thereof when the pins are cooperatively associated With the guide brackets as aforesaid.

JOHN W. DUNN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,017,541 Kuyper Oct. 15, 1935 2,298,892 Lorentzen Oct. 13, 1942 2,322,612 Wright June! 22, 19413 2,413,754 Dunn June l'1, 1947 

